IPL drug tested world championships meet report/personal

[PhDPepper1111]

IPL drug tested world championships 11/7/21 meet report
Entered the first international competition of my life last week: here are the results, my thoughts and experiences, and lessons learned.
Meet was held in the Orange County Hilton in Costa Mesa, CA. Overall the venue was nice – the event was in the main ballroom which gave plenty of space for spectators with the platforms up front and warmups behind the platforms.
Prep: Since my last meet didn’t go well, I focused a lot on my meet prep. I had mostly been on a bulk since last meet and was up to a high of 212 some mornings. I backed off the excess calories the week before but kept up to 3000 calories (about maintenance for me) until weigh in day. On weigh in day I ate/drank light but didn’t ‘try’ to cut – ended up weighing in at 205lbs. I ate chicken with veg and polenta after weighins and didn’t have the gastro issues that bothered me last time.
Given that this was a fair distance to the meet I had originally planned to drive the whole way with my daughter (my #1 support) but decided to fly halfway and borrow a car from my coach’s parents. Worked out well as I wasn’t too fatigued or sore for the meet. My coach flew down after weighins due to a family commitment but it was awesome that he made the trip for me.
I did fight a cold in the days before the meet but took lots of vitamins etc and in the end felt fine on comp day.
Competition:
Squats: I did feel quite nervous getting ready for squats as I had bombed out of the previous comp, but felt good during warmups and my last warmup at 440 felt easy. I got the first lift at 463 and the weight felt easy again. I did get 1 red light. We went with our plan to go for the WR (for my age/weight) on lift #2 at 488, and the weight again felt fairly light, but I got two reds – asked the judge and he said depth, so instead of trying 501, went for 488 again, and felt I got even deeper with no problem on the lift, but unfortunately still got two reds. This was a huge disappointment and threw off our game plan, but I was still happy to be in the competition and have a number on the board.
(squat #1: OR state record)
(squat #2: WR attempt failed on depth)

Bench: Warmups felt good and final single at 275 (ish) was easy. Bench #1 at 297 flew and felt really easy – a nice opener. Went with the planned second lift and meet PR at 319, which also felt really good. Could have tried my gym PR at 325 but wanted to make up some lost weight from squats so went for 330 and very nearly locked it out.. but not quite! Still felt pretty good although now I knew I would have an uphill battle for the total WR.
(bench #2: meet PR and OR state record)

Deadlift: Planned to open at the WR; warmups all felt easy with the final single at 485. Opened at 512 which felt almost too light; bobbled at the top which is the only reason I can give for 1 red light, but with two whites I got at least one WR from the meet as well as ensuring I was on the board. #2 at 529 also moved very easy. We had to make a decision, extend my WR to my gym PR of 545, or go for the total WR at 562 – I knew it would be a stretch but coach and I agreed to go for it. I did get it off the ground, but not close to lockout.
(dead #2: 529 WR)

Lessons learned
Compared to my last meet this was a huge success and while I didn’t hit all my goals and missed out on a couple WRs, in general I’m very pleased.
1. Focus. The week before my focus needs to be on feeling relaxed and confident, and NOT overthinking the upcoming meet. On the platform is the best time to let the adrenaline spike. I did pretty well with this but can get better.
2. Keep my prep consistent with what I did this time around.
3. Squat depth. Squat depth. Make it deep enough to leave no doubt.
4. My daughter attends these, not my wife ������
5. Come back stronger next meet and crush it!

Goals/moving forward:
My next meet is USPA tested PNW championships. I did very well this year and should do well again next year! Hometown meet.
Shooting for about a 515/340/575 ballpark for Feb – tall order but big goals are better than no goals!
I hope that this report is of interest to some folks and maybe helpful as well.
Cheers!

[binlogic]

Fuark! You killed it brah! Awesome job on all those lifts, ded fukn srs. Jealous right now. That second squat attempt looks great from my angle, idk what the judges saw but I know how it goes at these comps sometimes. I just joined USAPL after exclusively competing in non-sanctioned contests over the years. It's nice to see serious lifters on here who compete and post content. Keep up the great work!

[PhDPepper1111]

Thanks Bin! Yeah, gotta accept and move on.... Already tweaking my squats a little hopefully to improve depth and overall weight.
Good luck in the USAPL!!

[HomeGymChains]

Congratulations! Great progress!

[PhDPepper1111]

Congratulations! Great progress!

Thank you HGC!!!